Thursday, August 15, 2013

DEAR JERRY:I was flabbergasted at your piece on how very successful Decca was with singles sales in the '40s. I couldn't have imagined any label besides Columbia or RCA having nine of the Top 10 hits.

I doubt anything like that happened in the 1960s, even when Capitol had the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Peter & Gordon. That is unless it was when the Top 5 hits were all by the Beatles.
—Ivan Veeneman, Jacksonville, Fla.

DEAR IVAN: You're right about there being nothing in later decades to equal Decca's dominance in the '40s, even in the 1960s when there was no shortage of superstars.

One key reason is that record production peaked big time in the '60s, and the major companies of decades past found themselves yielding chart slots to countless new labels.

The change, in fact, was immediate. Before the time came to flip the first calendar page of the '60s, every one of the Top 10 — actually the Top 11 — records came from a different company. Check out this chart for January 25, 1960:

DEAR JERRY:"The Sopranos" used a lot of great oldies in their episodes, most of which I recognize. That's good, because they never identify any of the songs or artists in the credits.

One that does stump me is heard at both the beginning and the end of "Two Tonys" (first episode of Season Five). I think that was the only time they used the same song twice like that.

Now that I want that record, I'm hoping you can tell me what they didn't.

It features a great guitar that's twangy in a Dwight Yoakam sort of way, and a singer who sounds a bit like Dolly Parton. The lyrics even seem like something she might have written.
—Albert Hartsfield, Palmdale, Calif.

DEAR ALBERT: The producers must have liked this song to have used it twice. Like you, I don't recall another episode with so much of the same song.

The artist is Emmylou Harris, coincidentally a former singing partner of Dolly Parton's, and her song is "Heaven Only Knows" (Reprise 22999), a Top 20 hit in 1989.

Paul Kennerley, Emmylou's husband for about eight years (1985-1993), wrote "Heaven Only Knows." It is just one of many tunes he wrote for Emmylou. Paul also penned numerous hits for other top country stars.

DEAR JERRY:As I am listening to Adele's "21," I am wondering if this album is still in the Top 10 in the U.S.

It's been many months since you last mentioned it.
—Tammy Singleton, Norman, Okla.

DEAR TAMMY: On Sept. 22, 2012, after 80 weeks on Billboard's album chart, "21" dropped out of the Top 10, presumably for good.

Even so, "21" has never fallen from the Top 40, but that may soon change. As of this writing (Aug. 1), Adele occupies the No. 35 slot.

Being ranked No. 1 for 24 weeks gives "21" the greatest number of weeks atop the LP charts since the beginning of the SoundScan era (March 1991).

IZ ZAT SO? In an occurrence hugely reminiscent of when Pete Wingfield's "Eighteen with a Bullet" landed at No. 18, and with a bullet (indicating strong sales and upward chart movement), on both Billboard and Cash Box (Nov. 1975), Adele's "21" is now the SoundScan era's 21st album to sell 10 million units.